Restaurants urged to offer smaller portions

Yvonne Allen only had a small appetite after jury duty but the Subway restaurant nearest the downtown Los Angeles courthouse didn’t serve sandwiches the size she wanted — unless she was willing to order a kid’s meal, complete with a sticker and lunch bag decorated with cartoons.

“I got this other sandwich, but I can eat only half of it,” the 55-year-old customer service manager from Los Angeles said. “I might eat the rest later, but I wish I had the option of just paying for a smaller portion.”

Health-conscious and thrifty diners like her across Los Angeles are about to get that option.

Subway is among a handful of restaurants that have partnered with the county Department of Public Health to let customers order smaller portions of existing menu items, as well as healthful kids’ meals.

“Almost two-thirds of county residents are overweight or obese,” county health director Dr. Jonathan Fielding said in a news conference this week. “That puts them at higher risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, kidney problems, heart problems, etc.”

He added that if restaurants can shrink some of their menu items by 25 to 30 percent, their customers would still be “satiated but not overstuffed.”

“It is a disturbingly shocking statistic that nearly a quarter of children 3 and 4 years old in L.A. County are obese or overweight,” she said. “It is our shared responsibility to contribute to (their) health and well-being.”

Under the program launched Thursday, the county Department of Public Health will give restaurants a “Choose Health LA” decal to display on their windows, as well as other promotional material, and list their address on an interactive map at www.choosehealthla.com.

Fielding stressed this would be good for business, as studies show 85 percent of diners want more healthful options at their neighborhood restaurants.

Poquito Mas, which has 10 locations, signed up for the program immediately.

The restaurant’s menu now includes Poquito’s Petitos, which are smaller portions of its best-selling tacos, burritos, tostadas and quesadillas — offered at a fraction of the usual price.

The full-size carnitas tacos are $2.75, while the petite version is $1.89.

“Our customers come in different sizes, so portions should, too,” said the restaurant’s founder, Kevin McCarney.

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Other participating restaurants include Deano’s Gourmet Pizza at the Farmers Market near The Grove, and My Fit Foods in Torrance and Hermosa Beach.

The department is still trying to recruit fast-food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King and Carl’s Jr.

Aside from offering smaller portions of existing menu items, participating restaurants must make sure that at least half of their kids’ meals are not deep fried, and include fruits and/or vegetables, and a healthful beverage.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who adopted a healthier lifestyle after he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, said restaurants should not worry that offering smaller portions at lower prices would hurt their bottom line.

“There’s an economic advantage to offering this option because mothers are increasingly concerned about the obesity problem, and they want to do something about it,” he said.

According to a 2011 survey by the Hudson Institute, a public policy think tank in Washington, D.C., “better-for-you” products accounted for as much as 70 percent of restaurant sales growth from 2007-11.

In between bites of his own Subway sandwich downtown Thursday, Ben Cornell, a 41-year-old physical therapist from Hawthorne, said it’s about time that restaurants in the United States stopped supersizing their meals and started serving more sensible portions.

“I just got back from France, and their fast food is only about one-third the size of ours,” he said. “I remember going to Australia and ordering a large drink, and what they gave me was smaller than what we’d call a ‘small’ drink here.”